Firstly a plane was created in 3Ds Max and the reference image was applied to it as a material. In order to make the texture visible from all angles the self illumination property of the reference images was turned up to 100%. A UVW Map modifier was applied to the plane as the material appeared distorted due to the fact the plane was not the same size as the as the bitmap. The ‘bitmap fit’ button was clicked to fix this problem. The plane was then duplicated another 2 times and the gizmo tool used to manipulate the bitmap image to show another angle of the bomber. The planes were then moved into position to be used as a reference images. Finally these images were frozen to prevent them from being moved accidentally later on.
A box was then created and converted to an editable poly. A symmetry modifier was applied to the box to mirror the plane on the other side so that only one half on the plane needed to be modelled. Using the quick slice and cut tools more vertices were created and moved into alignment with the reference images, first on the X axis, then Y, and finally Z. A turbo smooth modifier was applied to smooth over the polygon and the number of iterations was turned up to 2. The extrude tools were then used to first create the tail wings and then the main wings and one final time to create the engines underneath the main wings. A couple of times I was not happy with the result of the wings and engines so they were completely re done. Finally after a lot of manipulating vertices, making sure they were all standard 4 sided quads the model was looking like the Lancaster bomber.
To texture the plane an Unwrap UVW modifier was applied to the model below the symmetry modifier. I decided to divide the bomber into planar sections. The paint selection tool was used to divide the bomber into sections. Each section was aligned on the appropriate axis and fit to size. Next in the edit UVW map dialog box the vertices and polygons were checked to make sure they were not inverted or overlapping. Any that were an issue were corrected. To make sure the texture was not pinching in any areas a chequered material was applied to the model. Finally a UVW template was rendered so the plane could be textured.
To create the texture I use Macromedia Firework CS4. Decals for the plane were found using Google images. To add some definition I used the planes plans and pasted them over the texture, reducing the opacity. The material was created and applied to the model. A bump map was created and also applied. I noticed when rendering the plane that the texture was only one sided and from some angle the plane would show through to the other side. This was a problem I had never encountered before. It turned out the solution was simple and all I needed to do was check the 2-sided property in the material editor. I decided to use an opacity map to create the windows in the plane. This proved a simple but effective solution rather than created the glass separately from the rest of the mesh. Finally the propellers were created using an image. Before learning about the opacity map I had trouble finding a way to preserve the image alpha channel. It turned out that the easiest way was just to create an opacity map for the propeller. The elements that made up the model were then grouped, ready for exporting.
A box was then created and converted to an editable poly. A symmetry modifier was applied to the box to mirror the plane on the other side so that only one half on the plane needed to be modelled. Using the quick slice and cut tools more vertices were created and moved into alignment with the reference images, first on the X axis, then Y, and finally Z. A turbo smooth modifier was applied to smooth over the polygon and the number of iterations was turned up to 2. The extrude tools were then used to first create the tail wings and then the main wings and one final time to create the engines underneath the main wings. A couple of times I was not happy with the result of the wings and engines so they were completely re done. Finally after a lot of manipulating vertices, making sure they were all standard 4 sided quads the model was looking like the Lancaster bomber.
To texture the plane an Unwrap UVW modifier was applied to the model below the symmetry modifier. I decided to divide the bomber into planar sections. The paint selection tool was used to divide the bomber into sections. Each section was aligned on the appropriate axis and fit to size. Next in the edit UVW map dialog box the vertices and polygons were checked to make sure they were not inverted or overlapping. Any that were an issue were corrected. To make sure the texture was not pinching in any areas a chequered material was applied to the model. Finally a UVW template was rendered so the plane could be textured.
To create the texture I use Macromedia Firework CS4. Decals for the plane were found using Google images. To add some definition I used the planes plans and pasted them over the texture, reducing the opacity. The material was created and applied to the model. A bump map was created and also applied. I noticed when rendering the plane that the texture was only one sided and from some angle the plane would show through to the other side. This was a problem I had never encountered before. It turned out the solution was simple and all I needed to do was check the 2-sided property in the material editor. I decided to use an opacity map to create the windows in the plane. This proved a simple but effective solution rather than created the glass separately from the rest of the mesh. Finally the propellers were created using an image. Before learning about the opacity map I had trouble finding a way to preserve the image alpha channel. It turned out that the easiest way was just to create an opacity map for the propeller. The elements that made up the model were then grouped, ready for exporting.
